Traveler of the River of Time and Space-Chapter 491 - 12: Aoandon Keiko (Part 2)

This time, the Aoandon appeared in Kyoto, which scared quite a few people, thinking something major had happened in the Netherworld. Fortunately, she was just out for a stroll and had no intent on causing trouble, residing somewhere in Akihabara.

The two cultivators from the Divine Palace quickly left.

Meanwhile.

Su Ziyu had returned to the center of Shibuya District.

There were quite a few differences compared to Shibuya on Earth, like there being no statue of Hachiko, but rather a standing Akita Inu God statue.

This is the statue of the Inugami.

Some people even pause to make a small prayer while passing, as it’s said to bring a bit of good luck.

The statue emits a faint hint of spirituality.

When Su Ziyu walked over curiously, he could see a faint, ethereal image of the Inugami.

This is the Divine Dao.

The Inugami was using this statue to absorb faith, and there should be shrines elsewhere worshipping it. However, given that modern people, especially Fusang people, tend to worship any deity they encounter, the faith gathered on the statue wasn’t enough to light up even a strand of golden divine light. For those seeking to attain godhood, devout believers are extremely important, and fanatics are core members of the Church.

However, since society had developed into a modern civilization, there must be limitations on how much faith the Inugami can absorb. Just being able to have a statue here must make many demons envious indeed.

The technological level of the Hundred Ghosts Plane is quite a bit behind Earth.

As Su Ziyu walked down the street, he noticed the TVs were still the old bulky desktop types, and the phones people were using were only capable of making calls. This place hadn’t yet entered the age of smartphones. However, one could see computers in some shops, those too being the old-school desktop variety. Although the timeline was close to that on the Earth Plane, the technological level was probably behind by about ten years.

People on the streets marched hurriedly, and the salarymen of that time in Fusang seemed extremely busy, making calls even as they walked, clad in suits.

It resembled the prosperous scene before the economic bubble burst in Fusang.

Su Ziyu wandered around aimlessly for a while.

"There’s demon energy."

His nose twitched suddenly, and he quickly spotted a small shop with a Kanto-style stew sign; his gaze fell on a round, plump middle-aged man seated at the counter, eating and drinking voraciously.

"Boss."

"Give me another potion." The plump man, who resembled a large toad, suddenly shuddered while speaking to the boss and then stiffly turned to look at the seat beside him.

The boss was a man in his fifties who called over to Su Ziyu, "Customer? What would you like?"

Su Ziyu glanced around the small shop with curiosity, "Anything will do."

This shop had a demon sitting inside it.

The food must be good.

The chubby man stiffly thought about fleeing, but he had just stood up when Su Ziyu said with a straight face, "Aren’t you going to keep eating? Why leave now?"

The boss glanced up at Su Ziyu’s words but remained silent.

"Sir..." The plump man’s eyes darted, tongue-tied, "I’m just out for a midnight snack..."

"I haven’t done anything bad."

This was a cultivator.

A very powerful one.

Just being seated beside Su Ziyu and feeling a slight leak of aura made him feel immobile.

"What’s your name?" Su Ziyu casually grabbed a skewer and tried it.

Kanto stew is quite similar to skewered hotpot, huh.

The taste is great.

No wonder a demon would sit here feasting at midnight.

"Inoshita Shouta." The round plump man spoke honestly and respectfully.

He realized this gentleman didn’t intend on making things difficult for him, so he sat back down with a still troubled expression.

"A Toad?" Su Ziyu continued enjoying the food in front of him, speaking casually.

Having been struck by lightning, he was a bit hungry.

"Uh-huh." Inoshita Shouta nodded earnestly.

Su Ziyu ordered a bottle of drink and turned to ask, "How long have you been in Tokyo?"

"Eight years." Inoshita Shouta replied cautiously.

That long?

It seemed the Needle Girl was right; in the Night Parade of Hundred Demons plane, many demons indeed lived among humans in cities.

This toad spirit’s spiritual light was quite clean.

It seemed to be one of those honest, cultivating demons that didn’t really harm anyone.

"What’s this?" Su Ziyu’s gaze swept over, landing on a book beside the man.

It seemed to be a manga.

The cover depicted a beautiful but mysterious snake maiden, with a familiar-looking face.

"It’s... nothing." Cold sweat broke out on Inoshita Shouta as he reached out to hide the manga.

Hmm?

Su Ziyu glared, and the man stiffened.

He casually picked up the manga and flipped through it, quickly identifying the source of the familiarity.

—"Night Parade of Hundred Demons Record: Qingji Chapter!"

—"Aoandon Keiko."

What the hell?

Su Ziyu casually glanced through, finding it was a horror manga with Qing Ji as the protagonist, the art style was both sinister and revealing, Qing Ji’s attire was relatively scant, yet she possessed an impressive figure. Amidst the dark, horror-themed art style, this alluring Qing Ji continually created scenes of slaughter and destruction, with blood, flames, severed limbs, and remains. Although it seemed creepy at first, a closer look revealed it was quite captivating.

The critical thing was the similarity between the manga’s Qing Ji and the real Qing Ji, with about seventy to eighty percent likeness, except for some differences in attire.

Aoandon Keiko?

Does the Aoandon really not care about disguises?

Just from a glance, Su Ziyu was sure this manga had to be the work of Aoandon, as the story was set in the Heian Era, near a remote, abandoned shrine.

It was somewhat like a Qing Ji version of A Chinese Ghost Story, except the male lead that appeared in the latter half resembled him about seventy percent.

While Qing Ji’s bust was indeed that massive, the depiction was way too revealing!

Seeking death?

Does Qing Ji really not read manga?

While Su Ziyu browsed the horror manga, a man of ordinary build and ordinary appearance wearing glasses entered, arms full of manga and light novels, akin to an otaku foraging at night. He brightened upon seeing Su Ziyu’s manga, naturally sitting next to the two and signaling the boss before turning to say, "You like Aoandon Keiko’s manga too?"

"You have to say, Aoandon Keiko’s artwork is truly impressive!"

"Especially this time’s Qing Ji Chapter."

"Tsk tsk." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"It’s simply magnificent!"

The man in glasses blinked, as if eager to share something intriguing, unable to contain himself, whispering, "I also heard that Aoandon Keiko might publish a Qing Ji volume since the response was so positive."

"Moreover..." he said wistfully, pulling out several Night Parade of Hundred Demons manga, shaking his head, "It was said they planned to release the Guhuo Bird Chapter last year."

"But it didn’t happen for unknown reasons."

"Aoandon Keiko’s scheduled new release date got postponed too."

"What a pity."

A volume?

A faint killing intent surfaced.

Everyone present couldn’t help but shiver.

Heh.

Aoandon really wasn’t afraid of death?

Why didn’t the new release come out last year? It must’ve been because she was recuperating!

A Guhuo Bird volume?

A Qing Ji volume?

Did she think she wasn’t dying fast enough?

Su Ziyu set down the manga, feeling he really should have a chat with Aoandon.

.........